The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-10-14

uO iOOh- LCI . - "Hu lldfC d uildk. gu
amt a Prohibitionist / hope?"
mo, but"
ooh, never mind the butts. a glass of
sherry won't hurt YOU"
And, yielding to the persuasion of his
old friend, Tom Barker, who had been
over on the Pacific slope for the past five
years, Billy went into .the saloon and
plighted his friendship in a glass of yellow
wine. Now, it happened that Billy had
been a very dissipated fellow before his
marriage. He had gone on sprees for a
week at a time, bnt during the five years
of his welded life not a drop of liquor had
passed his lips. That one glass of wine
fired his pulses with the old intoxicating
glow. The wistful faces of his children
and the horrible suspense of his wife We're
forgotten in the magic spell. The two.
men drank deep, drank oft. They visited
all their old-time resorts, and became very
ELUSIVE and alfectionate in a maudlin way.
At 3 o'clock they were in a Harlem saloon,
treating all hands and shouting in such a
disorderly way that the saloon keeper was
obliged to put them out upon the side
walk. Then they got on a Third avenue
elevated train and rode to the Battery.
Here the conductor logged both the men
out on the platform while they sang a duet
in very i%narticulate tones about how they
marched through Georgia, while the con-
ductor expressed his belief that neither of
them had been outside the Fourth ward in
their life. Daybreak found them on
T~wenty-third street in a very sorry plight.
Tom stood with his feet wide apart and
leaning against a lamppost. Billy stood
in front of him with his forefinger raised,
''Let's play S'n'ny sci, Tom. Y'll be
SCI, I'll be t'ch'r. Ar y on t me, oil
fel'?''
Tom blinked spasmodically and swayed
from side to side like a hen on a clothes
line in a windy day. His hat fell off and
rolled into the gutter. Tom held up his
righthand.
''Tch'r, kin | g out?'
''Wha' for?"
HAT fell out nd'r.'
"Ye'll both av yez go afore tn Judge in
tn mornin' av yez don't move on" said a
burly policeman, who struck both men
some smart blows across the back with his
club and pushed them toward Broadway.
AT 7 o'clock they were sleeping off the eff
fects of the spree in a Bowery lodging
house.
When Billy awoke at 6 o'clock that
evening with a headache that threatened
to crack his skull and a throat which
seemed to be lined with lime, he was over
come with remorse. He knew that his
children would be waiting for him at the
foot of the stairs. In fancy he could see
Beulah's wistful blue eyes scanning every
face as it passed by. He would Lave
started Immediately, filled as he was with
contrition. but Tom persuaded him to have
one more parting drink. This drink was
supplemented with another. Then Tom
suggested that Billy should try a shandY-
gaff. To put a whiskey sour and a ~shandy-
gaff into juxtaposition usually is disas-
trous as was proved in this case. Toms
fertile brain suggested other liquid mix
lures, and the spree continued all day, and
ended in both men being locked up in the
Tombs.
The next morning Tom and Billy were
brought before Judge Duffy, who delivered
a little lecture on the evils of intemper-
ance, advised Billy to go home to his wife
and children, and discharged them. Billy
felt the disgrace of his arrest very keenly,
but Tom cheered him with the remark
that no one had recognized him. Billy
wanted to start for home Immediately, but
Tom persuaded him to go to a hotel, from
whence his clothes were sent out to be
cleaned and pressed, his high hat was
neatly blocked, and his face shaved. While
waiting for his clothes Billy chewed cloves
and other aromatic spices all day for pru-
dental reasons.
At ) o'clock Billy came out Of the hotel
looking much the same as usual. His
nerves were a trife shaky, and dark circles
environed his eyes. He and Tom went to
the candy stand at the corner Of Ann
street, where Billy bought five more Jack
son balls. He also purchased ten peaches,
each one of which was larger, roster, and
more lucious than the ones he had bought
two days previous.
.'Wiil the children be at the station?'
said Tom.
Certainly they will; but | can easily
satisfy them. The thing that bothers me
is, what can 1 tell my wife@'
ooh, fake up a yarn about how you fell
into the hands of wicked bunco men, and
that after enticing you to their den they
drugged you with a glass of ginger ale.
She has confidence in you, hasn't she?"
'Implicit."
"Well, it won't do for o to destroy
that confidence by working the honesty
racket. OF course you don't mean to do
so again. etc, and Yankee Doodle; no SEN
sible man does. The end j~ustiies the
means, my boy"
Billy hesitated about taking Toms adj
vice. and while lie hesitated the train
stopped at Canal street and the TWO men
stepped upon the platform. Tom ran to
the head of the stairs. Looking down he
saw two little figures, hand in hand, look